On September 30, 1854, readers of the Illustrated London News were treated to an astonishing view of something they had seen all their lives but never in such detail, the Moon. Assembled from photographs by John Hartnup, astronomer at the Liverpool Observatory, and by the Photographic Society of Liverpool, the double-page woodcut showed maria, craters, mountain ranges and debris rays.
Most of these geological features weren't well understood at the time. Speaking of a lecture by Professor John

Sunday night presented one of those astronomical alignments that can soothe the mind: Venus and the Moon were nearly cuddling, about one degree apart.
[Here and above: telephoto view of the conjunction of Venus and the Moon, taken by Richard Garrard of the Utah Astronomy Club about 9:30 p.m., June 15, 2018. This exposure was made to show the part of the moon illuminated by Earthshine.]
Cory and I were out to shop and walk in the park. We first noticed the lovely conjunction as we prepared to

NASA’s long-term goals changed on Dec. 11, 2017, shifting from human exploration of asteroids to a return to the Moon.
The 2010 version of the National Space Policy contained these instructions: "Set far-reaching exploration milestones. By 2025, begin crewed missions beyond the moon, including sending humans to an asteroid. By the mid-2030s, send humans to orbit Mars and return them safely to Earth …."
In his Space Policy Directive 1, President Donald Trump removed that section and replaced it